Eddie Aldridge, founder of the 30-acre Aldridge Gardens in Hoover, Ala., looks at two Toomer's oak seedlings he bought from Auburn University. One of the seedlings will be planted at Aldridge Gardens as part of an Arbor Day celebration on March 2, 2013, city of Hoover forester Colin Conner said. (Photo courtesy of city of Hoover)

Eddie Aldridge, the founder of the 30-acre Aldridge Gardens off Lorna Road, has donated a Toomer's oak seedling to the public gardens that is to be planted during an Arbor Day celebration on March 2, said Colin Conner, the city of Hoover's forester.

The Toomer's oak seedling is now in a 25-gallon container, waiting to be planted. "It's every bit of 10 feet tall, a nice-size tree," Conner said.

Because the Toomer's oaks are sentimental to a lot of people, the plan is to let a lot of people be involved in the tree-planting ceremony, throwing a little dirt to help plant it, Conner said. The public, particularly Auburn fans, are invited, he said.

"I'm sure we'll get some rogue Alabama fans in there that try to throw some mud on it," Conner joked.

Hoover's Arbor Day celebration at Aldridge Gardens, organized by the Hoover Beautification Board, is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. with a tree giveaway, Conner said.

The city of Hoover is giving out 100 small trees for free to Hoover residents. The trees are from 12 species: blueberry, flowering dogwood, Southern crabapple, Hawthorne, common persimmon, sassafras, Eastern red cedar, overcup oak, Chinese chestnut, pecan, bald cypress and yellow poplar.

They're now in 3-gallon containers and range in height from 2 to 5 feet, Conner said.

The formal Arbor Day ceremony begins at 11 a.m. in the main building at Aldridge Gardens and will include essay readings by Hoover elementary school students who won an essay contest sponsored by the Hoover Beautification Board, Conner said. A committee read through probably a couple of hundred essays by fourth-graders before deciding on the winners, he said.

Seven Hoover schools also will hold Arbor Day celebrations at their schools leading up to the March 2 celebration, Conner said. Those schools are Bluff Park, Deer Valley, Shades Mountain, South Shades Crest and Trace Crossings elementary schools, Brock's Gap Intermediate School and Spain Park High School, he said.

Each school will plant a tree donated by the city, and students will be taught how to plant and maintain trees, he said.